Pilot killed in New York City helicopter crash was San Diego Navy veteran

Divers at the scene where a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River Thursday April in Jersey City N J AP Photo Seth Wenig Divers using sonar searched Friday for key pieces of a sightseeing helicopter that broke apart in midair and plunged into the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey All six people aboard were killed a family of five from Spain and the pilot a -year-old U S Navy veteran who spent much of his military career in San Diego The main and rear rotors main transmission roof structure and tail structure were still missing a day after Thursday s crash National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy explained The helicopter crashed around p m about minutes after departing from a lower Manhattan heliport It flew up the west side of Manhattan turned around near the George Washington Bridge and was heading south when it plummeted upside down into a shallow stretch of the river near Jersey City New Jersey Spectators mentioned they saw the main rotor detach and spin away and bystander video proved parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air Homendy noted investigators had only just begun looking at the wreckage flight logs and other material and would not speculate on the cause The agency which has been spared from the Trump administration s job-cutting measures deployed people to the crash scene including investigators Navy vet served on carrier with Special Warfare The pilot Seankese Johnson transitioned to aviation after a career in the Navy several years of it in San Diego He received his commercial pilot s license in according to the Federal Aviation Administration and had logged about hours of flight time as of March Homendy noted Lately he posted a photo on Facebook of him piloting a helicopter with Manhattan in the background In he posted that he was flying a firefighting helicopter Long hours and painstaking work to get to this moment Thank you for all the love and endorsement from those who ve helped me get here Johnson wrote View this post on Instagram A post shared by theGrio thegrio He enlisted in and served until achieving the rank of Gunner s Mate nd Class Defense Department records show He was stationed on the USS Ronald Reagan from to when the carrier s home port was in Coronado and in San Diego from to serving in the Special Warfare Unit the Special Warfare Logistics Encouragement Unit and the Coastal Riverine Squadron Just before takeoff his passengers Agustin Escobar and wife Merc Camprub Montal and their three children Victor Mercedes and Agustin smiled in front of the helicopter in souvenir photos posted to the tour operator s website Escobar a -year-old executive with the German conglomerate Siemens who had extended a business trip to the U S to sightsee in New York City and celebrate two family milestones Mercedes th birthday would have been Friday and his wife was about to turn Helicopter had prior issue The helicopter a Bell LongRanger IV was built in According to FAA records it had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly An entry in the agency s Institution Difficulty Reporting System shows the transmission assembly had metal in oil a sign of wear and a bearing in the transmission was exposed to be flaking The helicopter had logged total flight hours at the time according to the records